Processing and packaging viscous materials, such as oil, glue, caulking, toothpaste, syrup, etc. have presented unique problems to the industries which are faced with these tasks. Pumps, tanks, lines, injectors and packages must all be designed considering the properties of the viscous material in question.
A particular property of such materials addressed herein is the tendency of the materials to form tails. For example, when a viscous material is divided into portions, such as by extruding a set portion from a nozzle, the material will resist separation and form a tail from the nozzle to the bulk of the portion extruded. This tail will break and drop material on machinery and packaging necessitating time consuming clean up. Experience herein is derived as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,413, issued Mar. 8, 1988, from filling tubes of silicone sealant which, like many viscous materials is packaged by extruding from a nozzle vertically inserted into a package and withdrawn as material is extruded. The silicone sealant will form a tail between the sealant in the package and the nozzle when it is completely withdrawn. The tail will break and fall, clogging machinery or soiling the package.
It is an object of the present invention to cut tails of viscous material to avoid clogging machinery and soiling packages.
It is another object of the present invention to cut the tail on a vertically aligned filling device by a method that the tail will drop substantially along its axis and to its point of origin.
It is another object to cut tails without imparting substantial momentum to the bulk material of the tail.